Kangaroos,Wallabies and otherMacropodidae have become emblems and symbols of Australia, as well as appearing in popular culture both internationally and within Australia itself.
Kangaroos are part of cultural and spiritual significance for manyIndigenous Australians. Since its European discovery, Kangaroos have since become an emblem of Australia, appearing intheir coat of arms and in many state and city coat of arms, Australian logos such as theQantas logo, names of Australian sport teams, mascots such as theBoxing Kangaroo and in public art. Kangaroos are also well represented in film, television, songs, toys and souvenirs around the world.
The kangaroo was considered a unique oddity whenCaptain Cook'sHMBEndeavour arrived back in England in 1771 with a specimen on board. Over time it has come to symbolise Australia and Australian values.[1]
Joseph Banks, the naturalist on theEndeavour voyage, commissionedGeorge Stubbs to paint a portrait of the kangaroo specimen. When the official account of the voyage was published in 1773, it was illustrated with an engraving of Stubbs' kangaroo. From that time on, the kangaroo quickly came to symbolise the Australian continent, appearing in exhibitions, collections, art and printed works across Europe.[2]
It took a long time for the kangaroo to achieve official recognition in Australia. Despite being a "declared noxious animal" because of its reputation for damaging crops and fences and competing with domestic animals for resources, the kangaroo finally achieved official recognition with its inclusion on Australia's coat of arms in 1908.[3] The kangaroo is now popularly regarded as Australia's unofficial animal emblem.[4]
The kangaroo andemu are bearers on theAustralian Coat of Arms. It has been claimed these animals were chosen to signify a country moving 'forward' because of a common belief that neither can move backward.[5]
Two red kangaroos serve as bearers to theCoat of Arms of Western Australia.
Australia's national airline,Qantas, uses a bounding kangaroo for its logo. The kangaroo has always been part of the Qantas logo,[6] and the airline has previously been known informally as "The Flying Kangaroo".
Tourism Australia makes use of the kangaroo in its logo to "help ensure instant recognition for Australia around the world".[7]
TheAustralian Grown logo uses a golden kangaroo in a green triangle to show that a product is made or grown in Australia.[8]
TheRoyal Australian Air Forceroundel features a bounding red kangaroo.
Warships of theRoyal Australian Navy have red kangaroo symbols (based on the kangaroo on the reverse of theAustralian penny) fixed to either side of their superstructure or funnel. This originated during the Korean War: as the destroyerHMAS Anzac was repeatedly mistaken for a British warship, her executive officer had a brass 'weathervane' in the shape of a kangaroo made and mounted to the ship's mainmast.[9]
The kangaroo is part of the official emblem of theRoyal Australian Regiment with a kangaroo in between twoLee–Enfield bolt-action rifles.
TheVictorian coat of arms includes the upper portion of a kangaroo holding anImperial Crown in its paws.
The red kangaroo is the animal emblem of theNorthern Territory.
The kangaroo is the official emblem ofNorthern Territory Police.
British clothing and headwear companyKangol, known for its berets, features a kangaroo in its logo.
The kangaroo has been featured on coins on the pre-decimalAustralian pound and decimal coins of theAustralian dollar. The kangaroo appears on the pre-decimalpenny andhalf-penny coins. Five kangaroos are featured on theone dollar coin.
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Theboxing kangaroo – mascot for theAustralia II team in the 1983America's Cup. This rendition of the kangaroo has become a sporting icon, known informally as the green and gold "Sporting Kangaroo", and is highly popular with cricket crowds and international sporting events which feature Australian participation.
Matilda, the mascot at the1982 Commonwealth Games held inBrisbane,Queensland, Australia, was represented by both acartoon kangaroo and a 13-metre high (42 feet 8 inches) mechanical kangaroo (whichwinked at the spectators during the opening and closing ceremonies). The 'medal', which was worn by both the cartoon and mechanical versions ofMatilda, features the1982 Commonwealth Games logo — a stylised representation of a kangaroo bounding (in "flight") – similar to the pose of the kangaroo featured on the pre-decimal half-penny coin.[10]
During theFirst World War, pet kangaroos and toy kangaroos were a popular choice of mascot for Australian servicemen.[11][12]
The first uses of Kangaroo ornaments as architectural expression appeared during the Victorian era. This was at first limited to the use of the coat of arms on buildings; however, kangaroos soon became used as decorative motifs on their own in some commercial buildings, particularly inMelbourne.
It was theFederation architecture, however, which brought native ornamentation into the mainstream, so that kangaroos began to be mass-produced as ornamentation on domestic houses in the large cities, as part of an Australiana movement and effort to create a uniquely Australian style. Examples of this decoration include the ornamentalterracotta tile capping on residential roofs. Reproduction products using Kangaroos are still used today.
Kangaroo motifs have been used as a form of public art.
Notable examples include:
An early depiction of a kangaroo on an item of decorative art is the Macintosh & DegravesToken Shilling 1823.[13] Another early example is the Garret salver. This item ofTasmanian colonial silver incorporates a kangaroo, an emu and wattle branches in its design.[14]
The kangaroo has continued to be incorporated into decorative designs by craftspeople and designers in Australia and elsewhere in the world. The Terence Lane kangaroo collection at theNational Museum of Australia consists of more than 150 objects and ephemera in a wide range of styles produced over a period of 150 years. The collection ranges from a one-metre-highDoulton ceramic kangaroo umbrella stand to small items of jewellery.[15]
Kangaroos are extremely well represented infilms,television,songs,toys andsouvenirs around the world.
Skippy the Bush Kangaroo, star of the 1960s Australian children's television series.
Wake in Fright is a 1971 movie which includes a controversial kangaroo hunting scene containing graphic footage of kangaroos actually being shot.[16] In a more comical vein, the 1986 filmCrocodile Dundee features a scene in which the title character frightens away kangaroo hunters by making them think that a kangaroo is shooting back at them.[17]
Matilda is a 1978 movie starringElliott Gould about a promoter working with a kangaroo.
Kangaroo Jack is the title character of an American film of the same name.
A giant kangaroo is featured in the movieWelcome to Woop Woop.
The Hallmark Properties television seriesZoobilee Zoo has a character named Whazzat Kangaroo (the Canadian actress and singerStephanie Louise "Stevie" Vallance plays this role).
Kangaroos are mentioned, or featured, in theRolf Harris songs "Tie Me Kangaroo Down, Sport" and "Six White Boomers".
Kangaroos are also mentioned in thePeter Allen song "Tenterfield Saddler".
Kangaroos are also mentioned inHolden jingle "Football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars".
Kangaroos are also mentioned in the songs "Christmas Where The Gum Trees Grow", "Christmas in the Scrub" and "The Five Days of Christmas".
There is a "Sour Kangaroo" in theDr. Seuss taleHorton Hears a Who!.
Kanga andRoo arefictional mother and son kangaroos in the popular series of children's books aboutWinnie-the-Pooh.
Kidding Kangaroo in theSweet Pickles book series by Ruth Lerner Perle, Jacquelyn Reinach and Richard Hefter.
One of the several intelligent races described in the fantasy novelShadowkeep, written byAlan Dean Foster, are high-bounding, fun-loving marsupials, known as "roos" and obviously meant to be intelligent kangaroos.
A kangaroo is shot and killed byErnest inThe Swiss Family Robinson, abook written byJohann Wyss.
Kiko the Kangaroo is a recurring character in theTerrytoons cartoons.
Kanga andRoo are mother and son kangaroos in the popular series of cartoons aboutWinnie-the-Pooh.
A team of kangaroobasketball players feature in theFrench cartoon seriesKangoo and itsspin-off/prequelKangoo Juniors.
In severalLooney Tunes/Merrie Melodies cartoons,Sylvester the Cat is beaten up byHippety Hopper the baby kangaroo, who always accomplishes this feat after escaping from the captivity of humans who have attempted to take him to azoo in assorted American cities and whom Sylvester believes to be a giantmouse.
InTom and Jerry: The Fast and the Furry, the commentators are holding a kangaroo by the leash when the racers reachAustralia.
In the British punk style comic stripsTank Girl, the protagonist's boyfriend is Booga, the mutant anthro-kangaroo. There are some other minor kangaroo characters. In the U.S. movieTank Girl, slightly based on the comic strips, the protagonist is assisted by Rippers – mutant kangaroo genetically engineered supersoldiers (and Booga is among them, of course).
Rocko the wallaby inRocko's Modern Life.
Dot and the Kangaroo was a cartoon juxtaposed on a film of the Australian bush.
InThe Simpsons episode "Bart vs. Australia",Homer andBart try to escape from a crowd in the pouches of two kangaroos, but fail because the kangaroos' pouches are filled with mucus.
InAdventures of Sonic the Hedgehog, there is a kangaroo named MacHopper, who is also a parody ofCrocodile Dundee, another Australian icon.
In theKick Buttowski: Suburban Daredevil episode "Bwar and Peace", Brad talks about his Australian self, who afterward was punched, and the kangaroo appears before and during his wedding with the girl he is with. Kick also interacted with the kangaroo.
In the fifth season ofThe Flintstones, the Rubbles adopt Hoppy, a pet hoparoo (a Stone Age version of a kangaroo) from Down Under, forBamm-Bamm.
Aussie hair products fromProcter & Gamble sports a kangaroo hopping on its label, while the magazine and television ads display an animatronic purple kangaroo in them.
Dunkaroos are a snack in the U.S. which used to feature a talking kangaroo in commercials and on product containers.
Roo is a fighting kangaroo in theSega Genesis video gameStreets of Rage 3.
Ripper Roo, a crazy kangaroo in a straitjacket, is a boss character and antagonist of the video game seriesCrash Bandicoot.
Kao the Kangaroo and its sequels are a Polish video game series involving a yellow/orange kangaroo in a boxing uniform as its protagonist.
Sheila, a female kangaroo of the video game seriesSpyro the Dragon.
Roger the boxing kangaroo from theTekken series of video games.
In the Game Boy Color gamesThe Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons andThe Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages, there is a kangaroo by the name of Ricky who aidsLink.
InMortal Kombat Trilogy,Johnny Cage turns into a kangaroo.
In theBomberman games, the animals which hatch from eggs are called Rooi and they are based on kangaroos.
TheAnimal Crossing series features kangaroos as possible neighbours.
There are at least three homonymousfairy chess pieces called kangaroo.
Austin ofThe Backyardigans is a young kangaroo.
InWarriors of Virtue, the five main heroes are kangaroos.
In thePokémon franchise,Kangaskhan is a Normal type based on a kangaroo with reptilian features.Breloom, a Grass and Fighting type, is also partly based on a kangaroo with mushroom and boxing features.
In the anime and manga seriesReborn! the characterRyohei Sasagawa has a kangaroo in one of his ring boxes that enables healing and advances abilities of others.
Chimera Punch, a kangaroolike monster inTokyo Mew Mew.
The kangaroo features prominently in sport. Australian sports teams with nicknames derived from the kangaroo (andwallaby) include the following:
TheAustralian national rugby league team is nicknamed theKangaroos.
TheAustralia national rugby union team is nicknamed theWallabies.
TheAustralia national association football team (men's) is nicknamed theSocceroos.
TheAustralia national under-23 football team playsFootball at the Summer Olympics and is nicknamedOlyroos.
TheAustralia national under-20 football team is nicknamed theYoung Socceroos
TheAustralia national under-17 football team is theJoeys
TheAustralian Women's field hockey team is nicknamed theHockeyroos.
TheAustralian national ice hockey team is nicknamed theMighty Roos.
TheAustralian men's national basketball team is nicknamed theBoomers.
TheNorth Melbourne Football Club in theAustralian Football League is nicknamed theKangaroos.
Kasey Kangaroo is the mascot for theUniversity of Missouri–Kansas City, whose sports teams were historically known as the UMKC Kangaroos but rebranded as theKansas City Roos in 2019.
Zippy the kangaroo is the mascot forThe University of Akron, athletically theAkron Zips.
The kangaroo is the mascot forAustin College inSherman, Texas
The kangaroo is the mascot forTerryville High School inTerryville, Connecticut
Lizzie (a purple and white kangaroo) is the mascot ofLake Washington High School inKirkland, Washington
Stomper is the mascot for the professional wrestling promotionImpact Wrestling.
The kangaroo is the mascot forState University of New York at Canton inCanton (town), New York
The kangaroo is the mascot forWilmington Friends School inWilmington, Delaware
Moe the Kangaroo is the mascot forVirginia Military Institute inLexington, Virginia. However, VMI's sports teams are known as theVMI Keydets.
The kangaroo is the mascot forKilleen High School inKilleen, Texas.
Weatherford, Texas High School's mascot is the Kangaroos
Abington Friends School, inAbington, Pennsylvania, has a kangaroo named Roo as its mascot.
TheSamoa national Australian rules football team is nicknamed theKangaroos.
TheFC Bohemians Praha, aCzechfootball team is nicknamed theKlokani (Czech for kangaroos) since their tour inAustralia in 1927.
The kangaroo has inspired a number of place names in Australia. They include:
In Australia's latest version of the bush hero, Mick "Crocodile" Dundee, we find an explicitly totemic being who is a poacher turned conservationist as he chases away a group of kangaroo shooters at the behest of his American girlfriend.
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